Let sleeping Ray's lie
by gsrfan1
Summary: Summary: A favour that Neela does for a neighbour interrupts a dream of Ray’s, which sets off an argument that changes everything.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Let sleeping Ray's lie

Author: Gsrfan aka Laura

Pairing: Ray/Neela

Angst 'ish'/Romance/humour – it all depends on which chapters you read.

Summary: A favour that Neela does for a neighbour interrupts a dream of Ray's, which sets off an argument that changes everything.

Author's note: **Bold **indicates thought. _Italics _indicates dream.

I'm not that happy with the ending, but then again I never am, they're never been my strong suit.

Dedicated to Rayrocks who encouraged me to write down my idea and kept me sane while we were ER deprived. Thankyou.

**Chapter 1 **

'**What the ?'** Neela thought as she crawled out of bed towards the offending sound. **'Who would be knocking on our door at 7am?'**

'**Someone who knows this is your only day off this month and wants to torture you'** Neela told herself.

Ray had already gotten up and left for work she noted as she saw the dirty dish in the sink and the milk left on the counter. Shaking her head, she opened the door to see her neighbour standing there; looking like she was ready to kill someone, with a baby on one arm and what looked unnervingly like a bag full of baby supplies on the other.

"Um, Hi,' Neela muttered, running her hands through her hair, trying to look less asleep, 'Maggie….. right? What can I do for you?'

"I know I shouldn't ask, but I'm desperate, my babysitter called in sick and my husband is away for the week" she started rambling, waving her free hand around, almost making Neela dizzy, 'but could you take Charlie for the day." She asked apprehensively.

Neela was taken aback; she barely knew this woman and she wanted her to look after her kid all day,

"Please," Maggie continued, "Don't say no, I can't miss this meeting, my boss will kill me, it'll only be a few hours, he'll probably sleep anyway" she practically begged, her voice beginning to crack and tears welling in her eyes.

"I'll do anything you want to make it up to you" she pleaded.

Neela couldn't bare seeing her so upset, partly because she knew how it was to be so desperate for something and because she was still half asleep and she just couldn't handle it.

"Okay" Neela finally caved, holding out her arms to take the child who had so far not made a sound, "does he have everything he'll need" she asked.

"Yes," Maggie sighed, practically throwing the child into Neela's arms, "All my numbers are in the bag if you need me, thank you so much, I owe you" she said kissing the child goodbye, " I really have to run" she said heading down the hall, leaving Neela standing in the doorway, literally holding the baby. Setting the baby down on her bed so she could get dressed, Neela contemplated what she had gotten herself into. 

'**How hard can it be? I looked after my cousin's kids in England. Plus, it can't be any harder than looking after Ray' **she thought as she saw his clothes strewn all over the apartment.

"**So kiddo" **Neela said, picking up the child, thinking that maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all**, "what shall we do?" **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

Meanwhile, across town at the hospital, Ray's day was taking a turn for the worse. He had been given every crying baby, puking kid and grouchy old lady in Chicago.

"Hey man" Morris said "cheer up, it can't be that bad"

"Can't it?" Ray sighed, as he saw Sam bringing through another patient who couldn't be more than four years old. "Hide me" he whispered, ducking down behind the counter.

"Ray!" Dr. Lewis shouted as she saw him hiding,

'**Oh crap'** he grimaced, resurfacing.

"Yeh" he exhaled, preparing himself for the onslaught, although unsure what he'd done to deserve it this time.

"Don't look so worried" Dr. Lewis smiled, "I just came to say you're doing a great job, I know what it's like to be stuck with all the bad cases. And as a reward for covering my shift last week, you can go home early."

"I can what?" he questioned, "are you sure _you_ don't need a doctor?"

"Very funny, Barnett," she smiled, "now get out of here before I change my mind."

"Yes ma'm, I don't need to be told twice" he beamed, practically running towards the locker room.

On the ride home all Ray could picture was his bed, he wanted to collapse on to it and never get up again. He had even convinced himself that it was because he was exhausted and that it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that when he pictured it, Neela was in it. No, that had nothing to do with it.

Turning the key in the lock, he called out Neela's name, knowing that it was her day off and that she'd probably be collapsed in front of the sofa.

He smiled when he saw her, he was right; she was just where he had expected, but not how. Neela was lying across the sofa, one hand falling off the sofa, the other wrapped protectively around …… a baby?

Neela began to stir; somehow unconsciously aware that he was home, "Hey" she smiled, sitting up.

Surprised when Ray didn't respond and just stood staring at her, she looked down and remembered about their guest.

"Ah," she continued, "you're probably wondering who my little friend is?"

"You could say that" he smiled, unable to get over how adorable she looked with the baby.

"Ray meet Charlie," she said, holding out Charlie's arm so they could shake hands.

"Well, hello there," Ray smirked, sitting down next to the two of them. "And Charlie is here why?" he asked.

"His mother, our neighbour, Maggie, dropped him off this morning, she was desperate," Neela explained, "You don't mind do you?"

"No, of course not," Ray answered, wondering why Neela thought he would mind, '**Am I that child unfriendly?'**

"What are you doing home so early anyway?"

"Lewis was feeling generous," he explained, sinking into the sofa and closing his eyes.

"Lucky you" Neela smiled, as she saw he was sleeping, resisting the urge to brush the hair off his forehead and kiss him. Just.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

_Hands brushing through hair, lips trailing over skin, eyes meeting, sighs breaking the silence ._

"_Neela" he breathed against her neck, ………_

_Knock, Knock_

"_Ray……"_

_Knock Knock_

'**What the?'** Ray thought, as he was startled from his dream by a knocking at the door, much the way Neela had that morning.

"Neela, can you get that?" he called out as he couldn't see her, "Neela!" he shouted again as he got no answer.

'**Damn it,'** he breathed, getting up off the sofa and opened the door, "What?" he yelled, at the stranger.

"Uh, um" the woman started flustered, "I'm uh, I'm Maggie, I uh, Neela has …… Charlie" she mumbled, slightly afraid of the man towering over her.

"Maggie?" Neela called, rushing towards the door after hearing Ray yell at the other woman, "Sorry about that," she said glaring at Ray, "I had my hands full" she said handing Charlie and his bags over to the woman, who looked ready to run, with or without her child.

"Thanks" Maggie said, her voice still trembling slightly, "I really owe you, I have to run now though" she said stealing a quick glance at Ray, who had retreated to the kitchen, " I'll settle up with you tomorrow"

"Sure, no problem" Neela smiled, trying to silently comfort the startled woman, "It was fun, bye" she almost had to shout at the retreating form.

Closing the door, Ray turned to Neela, fury in her eyes,

"What the hell is your problem?" she almost screamed at Ray, who was now sitting at the table as though nothing had happened, "why were you so rude?"

'Damn, damn, damn' Ray silently cursed, he couldn't tell the truth, he didn't think saying, 'because she disturbed the sex dream I was having about you' would go down well. 

"Well?" Neela pushed, causing Ray to get flustered, which made him angry.

"It's none of your business Neela," he yelled, "you're my roommate, not my mother"

"You could have fooled me," she yelled back.

'**Shut up Neela'** she told herself, **'don't start a fight'**

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he yelled, not knowing why he was suddenly so angry, although he had a feeling it was something to do with the tension that had been growing since she moved in. This however was not the way he had wanted to resolve it.

"You know full well what it means." She screamed, "I tidy up after you, your band mates, your '_girlfriends,_" that word coming out a little more harshly than the others, "I do all the shopping, cleaning, I …..."

"Well, no-one asked you to" Ray shouted back.

'**Oh yeh, good comeback Ray, could you sound anymore like a kid?'**

"No, they don't Ray" she said, a little more composed, "but we both know if I didn't do it, no-one else would."

"So, what? You're saying I can't look after myself; that I'm as useless as that kid you were looking after. I bet you loved that, didn't you Neela? Finally someone you could boss around who wouldn't fight back."

"I don't boss you around" Neela started yelling again, now inches away from him.

"Yes, you do, and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of you telling me what to do and acting holier than thou all the time. You leave your stuff lying around the apartment as much as I do, you're far from perfect. I mean you found consoling patients so hard you had to leave the hospital, if it weren't for Lewis being desperate you'd still be working in the jumbo mart. Which would be great, maybe then you'd stay out of my way!"

Neela's intake of breath and back step told Ray he had gone too far, her silence and the pain in her eyes broke his heart. They both just stood there, chests heaving from all the yelling.

Ray expected her to start shouting again and tell him that he was wrong and that she didn't care about what he had said, but what she finally did do, broke him more than any words could have done. She let a single tear drop from her eyes before turning around in silence and walking towards her room. Closing the door on the argument, on him….. on them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 **

Neela had already left for work when he got up in the morning, which was good; he wasn't ready for a re-match. Although he doubted she'd stay in the same room with him long enough for them to have one.

Looking around the living room, he noticed something was different, wrong even, but he couldn't place it.

'**Maybe a shower will help me wake up a little'** he thought.

Stepping into the shower, he reached for his shampoo, which was standing on the edge of the bath, they way it always did, but something was different again. Neela's stuff wasn't there. He stepped straight back out the shower, grabbed a towel and walked into the living room again. That's when he saw it, or didn't, there wasn't a single thing in the room that belonged to Neela.

Not the book she left on the coffee table so she could read it when he watched sports, not the sweater that usually rested on the back of the sofa. Not a single thing, it was like she had erased herself from his life.

'**No'** he thought **'you pushed her out of your life'.**

He sighed and headed back into the bathroom for his shower, hoping he could wash away his guilt, but no matter what he did, it clung to him.

XXXX

"Just a second" Ray called as someone knocked on the door, pulling his t-shirt over his head, he pulled the door open.

"Oh" Maggie said, "I was looking for Neela" she continued, already retreating.

"Please, wait" Ray called, "I'm really sorry about yesterday, forgive me" he tried to smile, but couldn't quite manage it, guilt weighing him down.

"Sure" Maggie smiled back, a little more confident, " I just wanted to give Neela this to say thanks," she said, gesturing to the envelope in her hand, "she was great yesterday. Is she home?"

"No," Ray sighed, "she has to work today, but I can give it to her if you want."

"Thanks, well I have to go" Maggie smiled, "Oh and…… Ray is it? Flowers always work for me?"

"What" he asked genuinely confused.

"When Matt and I fight, flowers win me over every time, maybe they'll work for you"

Ray narrowed his eyes and cocked his head, **'Had Neela talked to Maggie about their fight. Don't be stupid, she barely knows her and when would she have had time? Not this morning, she was too busy clearing her things from the apartment'**

"Thin walls" Maggie explained.

"Right" Ray smiled nervously, "Sorry about that"

"It's not a problem, but from what I overheard, it's not me you have to say that to."

Ray nodded thanks and shut the door.

'**What am I going to do?'**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

"Neela, Neela!" Abby repeated, "hey, earth to Neela."

"Huh, what, sorry, I was thinking."

"I figured" Abby smiled, "so what did he do this time?" she asked, always straight to the point.

"What are you talking about?" Neela asked.

"Don't play dumb Neela, it doesn't suit you. We both know only a certain tattooed doctor makes you act like this, so I ask again, what did he do?"

"How long do you have?" Neela sighed.

"That bad huh, come on, it's dead in here, I'll buy you a coffee and you can tell me the whole thing."

XXXX

"He said what" Abby asked in disbelief, "What did you say?"

"Nothing" Neela sighed, "I couldn't, there were no words to express how much that hurt. I know I can be irritating sometimes but I had no idea that he was that sick of me."

Abby and Neela sat in silence for several minutes, before Neela said, "I'm gonna move out."

"What? Come on Neela, we all say stuff we don't mean when we're angry. Just give it time to blow over and things will be back to normal."

"I don't see how they can be Abby, he hates me. That's just one thing I don't think I can ignore." Neela sighed, resignation in her voice, "come on" she said, looking at her watch, "we better get back."

XXXX

Ray walked through the main doors of county, half – anticipating and half – dreading seeing Neela. He'd practiced his apology all morning, in the hopes that he'd see her before she finished her shift, but now his mind was blank.

"Neela!" he heard Abby call across the ER and turned towards the voice, "we need you in trauma 1, now!"

He saw Neela run past and followed to see if he could help. The tension in the trauma 1 rose as he entered, Abby looking directly at him, Neela anywhere but.

"What can I do?" he asked, trying to act professionally.

"Um, you can do the chest tube" Abby instructed. "Neela?" she questioned, as Neela had backed away from the table and was standing still.

"I….. you……" she started, desperate not to let her voice waiver, "there's enough people in here now, you don't need me. I'll go so I don't get in the way," she said her eyes meeting Ray's for the briefest of moments as she left the room. The words tearing through Ray's heart as he re-called what he had said.

'**Maybe then you wouldn't get in my way!'**

'**Idiot!' **He chastised himself.

XXXX

"Okay, send him up to surgery, they can take care of him from here" Abby told the orderly. "Ray, can I talk to you for a second?"

Ray sighed, he knew what was coming. "Sure" he answered, walking into the corner with Abby.

"I think you know what I'm going to say" Abby exhaled.

"If it goes something along the lines of _'how could be such an idiot'_, don't bother, I already asked myself that a million times."

"Come with me," Abby told him and led him over to the nurse's station, "take this," she said, handing him a newspaper.

"What is this for?" Ray asked confused.

"There's an article you may find interesting on page 10" she said cryptically before going back to her patients.

Turning straight to the page, Ray's heart sank at what he saw. It was the property page with several adverts circled.

'**She's leaving? No, she can't go, she can't leave me.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 

Ray sat in the living room; he'd finally gotten home after a crazy night and crashed on the sofa. He'd meant to go and talk to Neela but he had no energy.

Ray was so deep in thought that the sudden opening of the door startled him, he turned to see Neela standing half –in, half –out, unsure of what to do.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, before he realised how accusatory that sounded. "I thought you were in your room."

Neela walked passed him without making eye contact, opened the refrigerator and stated matter – of – factly, "I went for a walk", before starting to walk towards her room.

Ray grabbed her arm to stop her,

"Neela, we need to talk."

"What about Ray? You made your feelings perfectly clear last night. You wanted me out of your way, that's what you're going to get." Neela answered, her voice cold although her eyes betrayed the hurt she was feeling.

"I didn't mean any of that, it was stupid. I was just angry about…" he stopped, telling her why he was angry wouldn't help the situation. "I shouldn't have taken it out on you or Maggie."

Neela stood still, her resolve slowly melting, she was hurt but she couldn't help feeling for him.

"I apologised to Maggie, she forgives me" Ray continued.

"That's good" she said, unable to stop the faint smile she gave him.

Ray took a step forward so he was close enough to touch her, if he didn't think she would hit him.

"Neela, please" he whispered, "don't stay mad at me. I never meant to hurt you, those things that I said, they were ……"

'Why is he trying to make me feel better? He doesn't even like me.' 

"True" Neela finished for him, "you don't have to try and make me feel better Ray. What you said was true, I did find it hard to deal with the patients and show that I cared. I thought that I'd gotten better at it, but I couldn't see that I was driving you crazy and making you hate me, so I guess I was wrong, huh?" She finished, looking at the floor, so she wouldn't start crying…..again.

Ray was knocked back, "I don't hate you, I could never hate you."

"Yes you do, I don't blame you, I………" Neela didn't get to finish her sentence; Ray had put his hands on either side of her face and kissed her until she was breathless.

"Now do you think I hate you?" he asked breathless.

"No" she answered, equally breathless, "now I think you've lost your mind. Last night you practically tell me I'm the worst roommate and doctor in the world, and now you're kissing me?"

Ray smiled nervously, feeling ashamed of his words; it looked like he was finally going to have to come clean.

"What is it Ray? You like me or you hate me? It can't be both."

"I like you Neela," he whispered, as he came close to her, "I like you a lot" he breathed across the skin on her neck, as he walked behind her, causing her to shiver involuntarily.

"Ray, stop it" Neela commanded, but with no force behind, "I don't understand, if you like me, what the hell happened last night?"

"I ….. was ……. Upset ……" he said, each word separated by a kiss on her neck.

"By what" Neela asked, leaning back into him, his hands coming to her waist to hold her there. All her anger and hurt about the previous night dissolved as he turned her to face him. Passion and lust evident in his eyes.

She had a pretty good idea now why he had gotten so mad. It was the same reason she blushed when he came out the bathroom dressed in just a towel, the same reason his touch sent tingles through her body. He wanted her, like she wanted him.

"I was upset," he continued, his face inches from hers, "because I was asleep and I was having the best dream I've ever had."

"Really?" Neela sighed, her hands finding the bottom of his shirt.

"And someone interrupted it before the best part," he smiled cheekily, raising his arms so she could remove his shirt. "That was no excuse for what I did and said I know, but I was tired and ….. frustrated" he said raising his eyebrows.

Neela stepped back, bringing Ray with her onto the couch, "Well, we can't have you being frustrated now can we?" she smiled suggestively.

Ray kissed her lips, her sigh of pleasure causing her to smile, "So, do you forgive me?" he asked, his hands moving down her arms to the bottom of her blouse.

"You're not getting off the hook that easily Barnett" she joked, "I think it might take a lot more of this before I forgive you" she smiled, kissing his neck as he undid the buttons on her shirt.

"Oh, I think I can live with that" he breathed, kissing her collarbone.

Neela stood up from the sofa and stepped away from Ray, his heart sank as he thought that this was some sort of elaborate payback on her part.

"So, you gonna show me how this dream of yours ends or not?" she asked over her shoulder as she headed towards his room.

Ray smiled as he took her hand and followed her, this time happy that his dream was interrupted, now he was going to get to experience it for real, and he had a feeling that the real thing would be a million times better.

Fin


End file.
